Ile de France Cheese - Baked Brie Bites & Goat Cheese Marinara

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I was recently contacted by Ile de France to see if I would be interested in testing out some of their cheeses. More specifically, their brie and goat cheese. I've haven't used either cheese much, so I decided to accept their offer.

We tested out the brie first. Ile de France sent me their brie and two competitor brie cheeses.

I decided to make some baked brie bites for our tailgate last weekend. Everyone had the same reaction. They all said the competitor brie was good, but the Ile de France brie was really, really good! There was a big difference in how each brand tasted. The Ile de France cheese had a much richer and fuller flavor than the other brands of brie. Chicken Legs especially loved this. This was his first time eating brie cheese, and he loved it! We will be making these brie bites a lot!

Baked Brie Bites

mini phyllo tarts

Ile de France brie, cubed

brown sugar

chopped pecans

honey

Preheat oven to 350.

Place a cube of brie in each phyllo tart. Sprinkle each tart with approximately 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Top with approximately 1/2 tsp chopped pecans and a dollop of honey. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until brie is melted. (use more or less of each ingredient according to your preference)

Next up was the goat cheese. I'm not sure that I have ever had goat cheese, so this was a real adventure for me. We sampled three types of goat cheese.

I sliced each brand of goat cheese and baked it in my favorite marinara sauce. This was really good. It reminded me of another one of our favorite appetizers - Baked Feta.

We liked all the goat cheese, but the Ile de France was clearly our favorite. I was really surprised that each cheese tasted so different. The Ile de France tasted really fresh and had a much richer flavor than the other goat cheeses.

Goat Cheese Marinara

Ile de France goat cheese

marinara sauce

fresh garlic

basil

french bread

Preheat oven to 350.

Pour marinara into baking dish. Slice goat cheese and place on top of marinara. Sprinkle with basil and garlic. Bake 15-20 minutes, until bubbly. Serve with toasted french bread.

I love that you were sent some goodies to try. I love goat cheese and order it when I am out but rarely have it at home. I may try it now.Love all of your recipes and have shared your site with my favorite online community. We are all scrapbookers and have produced our own cookbook. We are in the process of our second cookbook. Thanks for the inspiration.

These look BEYOND. Like I might just need to do a "test run" and eat them all myself first to be sure they pass muster for my guests (big giant wink) So excited to try them!!!! Thank you! Found you from Mona at Providence!

try brie in puff pastry topped w/sour cherry jam from Whole Foods...so delicious! Of course you can just make baked brie topped w/the jam but the tartlets make it so much easier to handle! (we also make tartlets with fig jam topped with gorgonzola--total yum! sometimes finding fig jam is tricky, Home Goods is my favorite supplier for that, less expensive!)

I came across your recipe recently and lucked out finding the Ile de France Brie at our Costco. But I haven't found the mini phyllo tarts in a long time. Do you have any other suggestions what to use instead? I love making savories w/ Brie and I was happy to find your recommendation. Val

Thanks for this recipe!! This is one of my go to apps to take to parties. It's delish and easy to put together. @safogelman, I have not tried them cold, but they are good at room temperature as well. They are much better warm though.

I made the Baked Brie Bites for my holiday tea party and everyone loved them. I couldn't find phyllo tarts, but used the sheets, cutting them into two layers of 2" squares and put them in my mini silicon cupcake pan. Popped them in my convection oven, at 325d for 10-15 mins, and done! We couldn't stop eating them. Thank you!Val